Pacific Northwest - Day 2

After a reasonably good night's sleep in our tent, we started our second day with some egg sandwiches before we packed up the camp and headed out.

Janda making breakfast

The road leading to the campsite- tall trees!

 Our first stop was the Lake Crescent beach that we we camping near.  We didn't get a very good view the night before b/c it was basically dark when we got to the campsite.  It was a beautiful morning, although a little cold, and the water was surprisingly warm.  At least to the fingers that we dipped in!  The trees that were growing around the beach were amazing- huge and moss covered.

Huge climbing tree near the beach

Another tree by the beach- not as huge but still good for climbing

We headed up to the Sol Duc hot springs, which we were disappointed to find out are man-made.  There is a little resort there with a lodge and some little cabins.  It was pretty cute, but we didn't bother to go in and see the hot springs since they weren't natural.  Instead we hiked up a 3 mile trail to see a waterfall.  The hike wound its way past all the campsites situated on the river and then headed into to woods and up to the falls.  It had gotten quite hot by this point in the day (almost every day was like that- cold in the morning and then hot in the afternoon) and the glacial water from the falls really cooled off the air.  It was a nice break from the heat.

The water in the river that we were following up the mountain was so clear

Janda monkeying around ;)

Sol Duc waterfall

All that spray made tons of rainbows

Bridge across the falls

The river had a lot of little waterfalls, all covered in bright green moss

After we hiked back to the car we decided to have a little picnic before we moved on.  Garlic hummus on rosemary sourdough really hit the spot.

Next we headed towards the Pacific coast.  Janda got a permit at the Mora ranger station to camp out on the beach while I fell asleep sitting up in the car.  I guess non-stop travelling and adventure make a girl tired.  When we reached the beach, we climbed over the enormous downed trees that wash up on shore and create driftwood walls a little past the high tide mark.  We were back to cold weather, even though it was a beautiful day.  There would be no swimming in the Pacific at this beach!  Instead of sand, this beach was all pebbles and rocks.  I didn't see any shells either, which is quite different than the beaches in Gloucester.  We lugged our gear down the beach through the pebbles and over the driftwood until we found a good spot that was protected from the high winds.  We set up camp surround by these enormous trees and then explored further down the beach.  The reason that we chose this particular beach was the rock outcroppings, specifically Hole in the Wall, a passageway worn in to the rock by the water that is the only way to continue your walk down the beach.  Only at low tide can you walk any further along the beach, so we had to wait until after dinner.

Looking down the beach

One of the biggest downed tree driftwood that we saw

There were several rock outcroppings right where we camped

Hole in the Wall at mid tide

Me standing in front of another outcropping

Janda enjoyed playing with the enormous seaweed strands

Our campsite

We built a campfire and enjoyed dinner - this evening was Mexican so we dined on burritos and enchiladas.  Afterwards we let the fire die down quite a bit and headed back down the beach.  After checking out the rocks and Hole in the Wall, we headed back to camp to relax by the fire and enjoyed the evening on the beach until we were almost falling asleep by the fire, listening to the waves and gazing at the stars.

Making supper

 Campfire art

 The outcroppings at dusk

 Moonrise